Sir, – So much of the media coverage of what is going on at Drumcree and the Garvaghy Road refers to “both sides” of the problem, or the “two” sides failing to achieve some sort of compromise.
There are, in fact, three sides to this problem, the third side, rarely if ever mentioned, being the British government. London likes to portray itself as an honest broker, a neutral referee with no vested interest in the place or the issue.
It presents a narrative in which it is simply, and fairly, dealing with hopelessly backward children, two tribes who cannot behave like decent, rational grown-ups.
This patronising, condescending outlook is very much part of the problem. That Andy Burnham can declare, only weeks ago, that all talk of a united Ireland was quite simply “off the table” is hardly evidence of absolute neutrality. We need to talk about London. – Yours, etc,
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JOSEPH McMINN,
Victoria Gardens,
Belfast.
